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Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

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Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

MAKES ONE 10-INCH CAKE
This intensely chocolate cake--a favorite of Lyon's wife, Latoya--benefits from three glazings with sugar syrup. The glaze keeps the cake moist, and the extra sweetness complements the chocolate.
ingredients
  • 2 1/4 cups self-rising cake flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 sticks ( 1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4 -inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Decadent Soft Chocolate Cream
  • Softly whipped cream, for serving
directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly butter a 10-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper; butter the paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa and baking soda. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with 1 cup of the sugar at medium speed until blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. On low speed, alternately beat in the sour cream and the dry ingredients in 3 batches. Add the chocolate pieces and beat just until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then unmold and let cool right side up. 
  3. In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1 cup of sugar with the water and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Brush a thin layer of the glaze over the cake and let set. Brush the cake with the glaze 2 more times, allowing it to dry between glazings. 
  4. Cut the cake into 3/4 -inch-thick slices and serve with the Decadent Soft Chocolate Cream and whipped cream.

MAKE AHEAD The cake can be wrapped well and kept at room temperature for 1 day.

wine recommendation Because dessert includes both cheese and chocolate, it takes a rich, almost syrupy wine, such as Cockburn Ten-Year-Old Tawny Port, to deal with the creaminess of the cheeses and match the sweetness of the cake. If you're looking for a really special dessert wine, try the Mas Amiel Ten-Year-Old Maury, Alexander Adlgasser's favorite.

Search for easy-to-find complex, tawny port
Recipe by Sascha Lyon
From Young and Hungry
This recipe originally appeared in September, 1998.